Alaska

Mr. David Knopp, Wasilla
8th Grade Teacher, Teeland Middle School
Partner: Mrs. Michelle Holler
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Eighth grade students at Teeland Middle School will engage in a project that includes a school-wide recycling program and the study of energy efficient model homes and solar powered cars.  By designing model homes that meet EPA guidelines and constructing solar powered cars, students will learn about alternative energy sources as well as Newton’s Laws of Motion.

California

Mr. Alex Picazo, Chula Vista
Librarian, Rancho del Rey Middle School
Partner: Mrs. Rebecca Soco
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

In response to the challenge of promoting literacy and developing ecological awareness, students at Rancho del Ray Middle school will participate in a service learning project with two components.  First, struggling readers will be paired with motivated readers to read a novel about planting organic gardens.  After reading the novel, students will plant their own organic school garden.  A school-wide art project promoting environmental literacy will be the culminating event.

Ms. Katherine Williams, San Pablo
9th to 12th Grade Language Arts Teacher, Middle College High School
Partner: Mr. Steve Hoffman
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with the Staples Foundation for Learning

Middle College High School will celebrate the school-wide theme of “Water Conservation and Preservation.”  As a member of a national consortium of water conserving high schools across the United States, Middle College High School will share with other schools the work students have done in the community to raise awareness of water conservation.

Colorado

Mrs. Toni Allison, Greeley
1st Grade Teacher, Winograd K-8 School
Partner: Mrs. Audrey Forgue
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

To promote environmental stewardship, primary age students at Winograd School will receive direct instruction through the “Think Earth Environmental Education” curriculum.  Students will engage in a variety of learning experiences and activities, such as field trips to the city recycling center and water treatment plant, as well as journalizing about their experiences. 

Florida

Dr. Robin Bell, Crystal River
Library Media Specialist, Crystal River High School
Partner: Ms. Lynette Mitchell
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with the Staples Foundation for Learning

To address the fact that the school and local community do not recycle plastic, students will conduct research and produce a commercial to help bring about awareness and support for the school’s recycling endeavor.  The commercial will then be aired to the school’s 1,300 students during the morning news program.  After gaining student and local community support, students will set up a full service plastic recycling center in the school.

Mrs. Angela Holbrook, Miami
9th Grade Reading Coach, TERRA Environmental Research Institute
Partner: Mrs. Marlene Cabrera
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with the Staples Foundation for Learning

Mrs. Holbrook and Mrs. Cabrera will develop a pioneering educational program with the main goals of improving the academic performance of students with special needs and increasing the environmental sustainability of schools in urban settings.  Through the project, educators at TERRA will adopt technological tools to improve the efficiency of student learning and reduce the environmental degradation that paper waste and paper production generate.

Georgia

Dr. Karen Crow-Roark, Dalton
1st to 5th Grade Teacher, Roan School
Partner: Ms. Linda White
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Using a five-step scientific method, students will conduct research on energy efficiency and the impact of pollution on their natural environment.  Students will investigate the energy saving capabilities of different types of lighting.  To gauge the extent of light pollution, students will research fireflies and star counts in various urban and rural settings.  Upon completion of these experiments, students will prepare a presentation for targeted audiences. 

Maryland

Mr. Benjamin Graeff, Baltimore
6th Grade Teacher, Morrell Park Elementary/Middle School
Partner: Miss Amanda Clemmer
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

During a five day stay at Northbay Adventure Camp, students will investigate real scientific issues by learning about five distinct ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.  Spending the majority of their time outdoors, students will have the opportunity to participate in a number of different physical activities such as kayaking and wall climbing.  As a result of their time at Northbay, students will learn how to develop goals, strategies, and decision making skills to become stronger members of their community and society. 

Mr. Coit Hendley, Greenbelt
Science Teacher, Eleanor Roosevelt High School
Partner: Miss Margaret Brosnan
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Students in the “Watershed Integrated Study Program (WISP)” at Eleanor Roosevelt High School will improve their ability to conduct scientific research by studying organic pollutants in local streams in Prince George’s County.  This group of twenty-eight will work with a college professor to test for a variety of chemical characteristics and conduct a macro invertebrate survey.  Each student will produce a research paper as well as present their findings at a Science Fair and Research Practicum Symposium.

Minnesota

Mrs. Amy Kennedy, Minneapolis
Kindergarten to 1st Grade ESL Teacher, Andersen United Community School
Partner: Ms. Jeanne Yanish
Gran t Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

The “Earth Day Garden” will engage students in the learning process by allowing them to plant flowers and vegetables in large container gardens.  The year-long activity will include composting, fertilizing, and harvesting.  The process will promote language acquisition for English Language Learners in the four language modalities of speaking, listening, reading, and writing.  The opportunity to work in a garden will create knowledge and experiences upon which the students can build new interest and curiosity to further their learning.

North Carolina

Mrs. Phyllis Correll, Fayetteville
Kindergarten to 5th Grade Grade Teacher, Alderman Road Elementary School
Partner: Ms. Kari Hogue
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Through “Global Warming: It's a Warm, Warm, World,” six first grade classes and five special education classes will study the connections between themselves and their environment while learning about global warming.  As students study the effects of temperature on the lifecycle of painted lady butterflies, they will develop technology, writing, and inquiry-based research skills, which they will use to collaborate, document, and compare data with other students in the school.  Students will create data logs and illustrated research summaries which they will use to make predictions about the future impact of global warming.

Mrs. Brenda Todd, Monroe
2nd Grade Teacher, Rocky River Elementary School
Partner: Ms. Camie Snyder
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Using digital cameras, students at Rocky River Elementary will participate in a variety of projects that integrate multiple subject areas such as math, literacy, science, and social studies.  Students will use the cameras to take pictures of shapes and create books with the Iphoto program and record events around the school and their community that will be shared with other students around the world.

Mrs. Montanette Hendricks, Reidsville
2nd Grade Teacher, Moss Street Elementary School
Partner: Mrs. Rebecca Lasine
Grant Amount $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Students at Moss Street Elementary School will participate in the preparation and maintenance of a school garden.  The garden will serve as an outdoor learning space that will be a part of the school’s academic integration of science, math, health, and language arts.  The creation of this garden will allow students to participate in a range of activities such as planting and harvesting vegetables, and creating a lab book to record their observations and drawings.  Students will also produce a book of poems and stories about their experiences, which Mrs. Hendricks and Mrs. Lasine will publish.

Nebraska

Mrs. Beverly McKillip, Tilden
Science Teacher, Elkhorn Valley Schools
Partner: Mr. Lee Burenheide
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Mrs. McKillip and Mr. Burenheide’s “Green Energy” project is designed to empower their students to solve environmental problems that relate to energy production.  Through research and experimentation, students will develop a better understanding of energy related issues that focus on conservation and renewable energy sources.  The project will utilize the wind turbine the school constructed as a member of Wind for Schools.

New Jersey

Mrs. Mary Rowan, Hamburg
2nd Grade Teacher, Hardyston Township Elementary School
Partner: Mrs. Adele Manailovich
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Educators at Hardyston Township Elementary School will create the “Hardystone Dream Garden,” an alternative learning environment for students that will allow a more intimate relationship with the natural environment.  Students will study and view indigenous plants in a natural setting, along with the examination of various animals and insects.  Having the opportunity to be interactive with nature on a continual basis will encourage students to become more involved with environmental concerns and result in a heightened awareness of the planet's ecological welfare.

Mrs. Caroline Chervenak, Maywood
Learning Consultant, Maywood Schools
Partner: Mrs. Karen Brickett-Martin
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Mrs. Chervenak and Mrs. Brickett-Martin will lead a district-wide effort to increase gardening programs by revitalizing a courtyard and greenhouse on school grounds.  Upon completion of the revitalization, gardening programs will be integrated into the curriculum and activities will increase to include more students, parents, and teachers.

New York

Ms. Nikita Hunter, Brooklyn
Kindergarten to 5th Grade Teacher, Public School 631
Partner: Ms. Dorrett Larmond
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Ms. Hunter and Ms. Larmond’s Pre-K classes will experience hands-on, discovery-based learning by starting a school garden and greenhouse.  Students will sort, classify, and grow a garden of vegetables, fruits, and plants.  Both the garden and greenhouse will feed the immediate school and local community.  At the end of the project, an event will celebrate its implementation.  Future Pre-K classes will maintain and expand the garden and greenhouse.  The project will provide students with essential math and science skills fundamental to their academic and social development.

Ms. Jennifer Dashef, Granville
Kindergarten to 6th Grade Art Teacher, Granville Central School District
Partner: Mrs. Sheryl Porrier
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Each student in Ms. Dashef’s sixth grade class will make a claymation stop-motion movie that incorporates the theme of recycling.  Photos from the films will be uploaded onto a publishing website, where students will create their own books.  Students will include text to enhance the photos.  Students will gather information from their research, their background knowledge, and the local Washington County Recycling Transfer Station.

Ms. Cheryl Taliaferro, New York
Kindergarten to 5th Grade Teacher, P.S. 194M Countee Cullen
Partner: Ms. Rebecca O’Brien
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

In an effort to develop environmentally conscious students and future stewards of the planet, students at P.S. 194M Countee Cullen school will participate in field trips to environmental centers and environmentally conscious businesses.  Using classroom lessons and hands-on projects that are aligned within state learning standards, Ms. Taliaferro and Ms. O’Brien will incorporate green themes across the curriculum.  These activities will support students' understanding of their significant role in preserving the environment now and for generations to come.

Mr. Gregory Brockway, Utica
Music Teacher, Donovan Middle School
Partner: Mrs. Carmela Brown
Grant Amount: $5,000

Mr. Brockway and his students will engage in authentic music recording sessions requiring the composition, notation, and improvisation of music encompassing diverse styles and genres.  Using modern technology, students will learn to read and notate music; play instruments including voice, drums, guitar, and piano; and improvise music in all popular genres using instruments and computer software.

Ohio

Mr. Jon Jordan, Barnesville
7th to 8th Grade Science Teacher, Barnesville Exempted Village Schools
Partner: Mrs. JoAnn Murphy
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Barnesville students will attend an overnight camp at The Wilds wildlife conservation center in Cumberland, Ohio.  The camp itinerary will include a variety of conservation and naturalist activities designed to get the students actively involved.  Students will camp in Mongolian Yurt style huts and meals will be provided by the camp restaurant.  Students will also experience a guided tour of The Wilds' 10,000 acre wildlife preserve.

Oregon

Mr. Casey McCord, North Bend
5th to 8th Grade Technology Teacher, North Bend Middle School
Partner: Mr. John Grief
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

This career based student-driven project will allow seventh and eighth grade students to explore many new and emerging technologies through cooperative learning experiences.  Students will research, create, and reflect on topics such as alternative energies, structural engineering, robotics, rocketry, and electricity while engaging in hands-on projects for each technology module.  These self-directed learning experiences will foster teamwork, creativity, risk-taking, and environmental stewardship, as well as provide students with real-world experiences in problem solving.

Pennsylvania

Ms. Cherie Freeman, Aston
7th Grade Science Teacher, Northley Middle School
Partner: Ms. Jenna Dowd
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Seventh grade students at Northley Middle School will plan, plant, and harvest an organic spring vegetable garden.  Students will drive the project, using scientific inquiry to design the garden, analyze the growth results, and evaluate any variability in produce results.  This yearly project will engage students in learning about the structure and function of living things, populations and ecosystems, organic gardening, renewable resources, and environmental stewardship.  In addition, by donating the harvested food to local food banks, students will learn lessons in social responsibility.  In the summer, rather than lying fallow, special education programs will use the garden.

Texas

Mrs. Carolyn Jordan, Houston
6th Grade Language Arts Teacher, B. C. Elmore Middle School
Partner: Mrs. Charlotte Jolivet
Grant Amount: $5,000
Grant Awarded in Partnership with Nickelodeon

Sixth grade ESL students at B.C. Elmore Middle School will create a campus paper recycling program.  Students will collaborate with their peers to create PowerPoint presentations, design, and produce poster advertisements, and decorate recycling bins.